Smiling in the Shadows
by ChibiKagura
Summary: A collection of AkiraxTakumi drabbles and oneshots. Lots of fluff and snarkiness with a side order of romance. 3rd and 4th posts: Takumi gives Akira a makeover, and Akira talks to her father about future plans.
1. Kunoichi in the Kitchen

Instead of writing a full-length multichapter fic, I'm going to try to maintain two drabble collections over the course of the summer. One is going to be TakumixAkira, naturally, and the other will center around Hihara Kazuki from La Corda d'Oro. As long as a plot bunny fits with either theme and isn't too depressing, I'm probably going to write it at some point. Canon timeline, future, AU, comedy, you name it. XD All ratings are cool with me too. If anybody has a request or a prompt, please tell me! I want to have fun with this!

I also am working on a doujinshi version of Draw. It will be rated M for sexual situations, but I don't intend to make it too graphic. Look forward to it! XD

Okay, that's enough shameless self-pimpage. On with the drabbles!

**Title:** Kunoichi in the Kitchen  
**Rating/warnings:** T for language  
**Summary:** Akira cannot cook.  
**Disclaimer:** The plot is mine, but the characters are not.  
**Notes:** They're happily married at last! Yay! At least in this quickie they are... I can see Takumi going to med school and becoming a pediatrician. Akira is totally not the housewife type, though.

Something was not right. Takumi quickly glanced around the apartment searching for anything out of the ordinary, but nothing caught his attention. He resumed flipping through the massive cookbook that his sister had given him and Akira for their wedding, although his feeling of uneasiness had not subsided in the slightest. His eyes drifted in and out of focus as he scanned the pages before him, until suddenly, the acrid smell of burning bacon filled his nostrils. Slamming the book shut, he rushed into the kitchen where a bemused Akira stood coughing and sputtering over the charred remains of their breakfast.

"Shit!" he yelled, his eyes burning from the smoke that billowed from the frying pan on the stove. He turned on the kitchen vent and silently prayed that the smoke would clear before it triggered the sprinkler system. How could a girl as amazing and talented as Akira fail so miserably at simple household chores? She was a ninja for crying out loud! Chewing his bottom lip, he tossed the smoldering bacon into the garbage and attempted to suppress the anger rising in his system. His doctors told him constantly that he should not get upset and put unnecessary stress on his heart, and since he was such a friendly and easygoing guy by nature, this was no problem for him. As abruptly as it had started, his temper receded and his pulse slowed. He looked over at Akira, who was glaring daggers at the trash can and brandishing a spatula in her right hand like a kunai. She looked absolutely ridiculous, and he had to smile. "I assure you that pig is quite dead and won't be attacking you anytime soon."

"I thought this would get it done faster," Akira muttered grumpily as she crossed her arms. "Don't mock me. I was right."

"But this cooked it too quickly. I told you to use medium heat," Takumi sighed, "but don't worry. It's not your fault that you would make a horrible housewife."

"Bastard!" the ninja snarled, smacking her husband across the backside with the greasy spatula. "Why should I be, when I've got you?"

Takumi grinned. "You're going to be hungry once I start my residency, especially on those long nights when I'm on call at the hospital. Who's going to take care of you?"

"You don't even know if you got into med school yet, idiot," the ninja scoffed.

"But you should still learn just in case!"

Akira took a deep breath, choosing not think about life without him at the moment. Right now, her growling stomach presented more of a problem. "Fine. Teach me how to cook, then. We'll start with breakfast," she announced, rolling up her sleeves.

Grabbing his frilly, pink apron off the hook on the door, Takumi opened the refrigerator. They were both still living off student budgets, so the shelves were emptier than he would have liked. During their stay in America, Takumi had developed a fondness for extravagant western breakfasts, but fortunately they had enough ingredients to make one recipe from the massive cookbook that had caught his eye. He hoped that his more traditional wife would not mind indulging this once. "Apple pancakes sound good to you, Akira?"

"Sure. What can I do?" The ninja asked, snatching the recipe book that Takumi had carelessly thrown to the side in his frenzy.

He paused, remembering all of the steps involved in making pancakes. "Um, you're good with knives, so you can slice the apples! I'll mix the ingredients."

Akira nodded, and scurried about the kitchen in search of a knife and a cutting board. Takumi began measuring amounts of the other ingredients while casually observing his wife's performance in the kitchen. She seemed to be adjusting well despite her earlier mishap, and her speed and precision with the knife was so captivating that he nearly poured the milk over his hand instead of into the measuring cup. Still, something did not seem right about the whole situation.

Then it hit him. Smirking, he untied the pink apron and said, "Want to put this on, Akira?"

"HELL NO!" She snarled, lobbing a piece of apple at her husbands' head. Her aim was flawless and the discarded fruit bounced off its target onto the tile floor. With a loud "hmph," she returned to her cutting board.

Massaging his left temple, Takumi decided that maybe everything was fine after all.


	2. Bikini

**Title:** Bikini  
**Words:** 830-840. Maybe more.  
**Rating:** T for language and my sadistic sense of humor  
**Summary:** She had already conquered her fear of the dreaded sailor fuku. This was just the next step towards becoming a real woman.  
**Soundtrack:** Manatsu no Dance Call – Home Made Kazoku  
**Disclaimer:** If the characters were mine, I probably wouldn't abuse them so much.  
**A/N:** I love Nao. I love Mikoto. I love torturing Akira. This isn't my best work, but I had to get the idea out of my head. Is it bad that I consider anything that takes me less than two hours to write a rush job? X.x; Oh, and this is based loosely on personal experience. Yay, summer…

Akira crossed names off her list of options in her mind. Mai and Akane were busy with work, Yukino was busy with the student council, Sugiura-sensei was in Egypt doing God-knows-what, Mikoto was as clueless as she was, and she would rather die than ask Shizuru or Shiho for help. Natsuki offered to let her borrow one, but all of hers were too big. There was only one other person she could ask. As she dialed the other girl's number, she took a deep breath and reminded herself that Takumi had wanted to go the beach for the longest time. This was for him. Besides, she had already conquered her fear of the dreaded sailor fuku. This was just the next step towards becoming a real woman. She had nothing to worry about, right?

_Then again, that girl seemed almost too willing to help_, she thought, shutting her phone.

* * *

"Whoa, are you okay? That was a big one!" Takumi called excitedly after a particularly powerful wave swept Akira right off her feet. He and Mikoto stayed on land and decided to build a sand castle while Akira waged war against the surf. It was her first time in the ocean, and already it was getting the better of her. Coughing and sputtering, the ninja returned to the surface.

"Easy for you to say! You won't go in past your knees!" she snapped, pulling a wad of seaweed out of her hair. Then she came to a horrifying realization. Something was…missing. Panicking, she hunkered down in the water until only her eyes were visible and scanned the surface for her bikini top. Hopefully it would float, considering how much padding was used to give it shape. Out the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of white and polka dots swirling in the receding tide. Luckily the two of them were so absorbed in their activities that neither had noticed. Good. Casting furtive glances to both sides, the ninja slinked her way through the water towards the shore.

"Hey Mikoto, could you go get some more water please? The sand is getting too dry!"

Akira dove just in time to see her childlike sempai discover the odd piece of fabric that had washed up onto the beach, and she nearly had a heart attack when the girl picked up and began waving it like a flag for all to see. Out of morbid curiosity, she poked her head over the surface of the water, although she kept her body well hidden. So much for going unnoticed.

"Look! I found a bra! It's smaller than Mai's AND Natsuki's, but it's still too big for me! I know! It's Akira's, right, Takumi? You've seen hers, right? Takumi?"

At that moment, another large wave caught the ninja off guard. Reflexively, she began flailing her arms to keep herself from falling on her face and drowning. Then she remembered her other situation, and struggled to cover herself. But she was too late. Takumi arrived on the scene just in time to catch a full view of Akira in her topless glory. She halfway expected him to keel over backwards with a nosebleed like the kendo captain, but he just stood there staring, apparently too stunned to speak. Then something in him snapped.

"A-Aki...Mikoto, give that back! Now! " Takumi stammered, tripping over his own feet as he scrambled backwards in his attempt to give her some privacy.

Mikoto tilted her head to the side, confused. Tossing the bikini top to the ninja, she said with complete innocence, "I wonder why he's afraid to see you naked because you live together. Mai and I live together, so I've seen her naked when we take baths and stuff… I like taking baths with Mai!"

"Takumi and I are…different," Akira said, exasperated.

"You mean you don't take baths?"

"Just drop it, Mikoto." Akira didn't feel like getting interrogated at the moment. The older girl had gotten distracted by a crab crawling across the sand anyway. "Oi, Takumi! You didn't hear any of that, did you?" she snarled defensively as she approached the place where Takumi sat. He was laughing so hard that tears were streaming down his cheeks.

"All of it," he gasped in between uncontrollable fits of giggles. "I'm sorry! Just the look on your face when! Ahahahaha!"

"Oh, so you were looking at my face, then? Liar. Give me my shirt."

Once the spasms had subsided, he removed a wrinkled t-shirt from her bag and handed it to her. He smiled. "Bikinis are overrated. I'm amazed that Onee-chan never pops out of hers. At least you don't have as much to worry about."

"Shut it." Without another word, Akira pulled her shirt over her head and flopped onto her back in the sand. Like hell she was ever going to ask Nao for fashion advice ever again. But as much as she hated the pink-haired demon child, she had to laugh as well. The sly little bitch probably knew this was going to happen all along.


	3. Insomnia

**Title:** Insomnia  
**Summary:** Ever wonder why Akira started braiding her hair?  
**Rating: **PG  
**Disclaimer**: Don't own. D  
**Note: **While I was in Japan, there was one day where I got caught up in a TOTAL writing binge. I wrote a short fic, a bonus drabble, a report/review of the BUMP OF CHICKEN concert we went to, and a poem. Then today, I finally got around to typing them up, and I had to write another idea that had popped into my head. xx;; I apologize for being so busy! The trip was amazing, though. Now I have to start packing for school, and I'm going to be out of commission for the next few days (wisdom teeth...bleeeh...). -pulls her hair out from the stress-

So yeah... Enjoy the double update!

Insomnia

Everyone else was asleep, including Akira, who was curled up in a fetal position in the seat next to him. Try as he might, he just could not get comfortable in his plane seat. When he closed his eyes, he would feel apprehension over his impending operation. But there was also excitement about traveling overseas for the first time in his life, with only his roommate for company. The very thought made his heart skip a beat. Instinctively, he put his hand to his chest. He wondered if, once he had recovered from the surgery, his new heart would still beat strangely whenever he thought of her. He opened his eyes. The cabin lights had been turned off, so the only illumination came from the orange no-smoking signs and scattered reading lights. Although he could not see it because her back was turned, he imagined Akira's sleeping face to be peaceful, angelic even. He smiled to himself at the irony; how could a person as violent as her ever look angelic? He wished she would roll over so that he could see it and possibly take a quick blackmail photo. He put a hand over his mouth to stifle his snickers. Apparently Onee-chan's friend's behavior was starting to rub off on him. With his luck, though, the camera's flash would wake her, and she would probably kill him instantly. And he did not feel like dying just yet, not when he had so much to live for. He wanted to see it at some point, though, simply because he wanted to see her relaxed for once. She was always so uptight when she was awake…

With a muffled sigh, Akira suddenly shifted positions, causing Takumi's heart to stop again. What if she woke up and saw him staring at her? He wasn't some creepy guy like the one who had been eyeing the two of them intently on the train to the airport. At the time, Akira had been ready to slit the man's throat, despite Takumi's insistence that murder in a public place would be a bad idea. Fortunately, she appeared now to be quite unconscious and free of any homicidal thoughts. The side of her face pressed into her seat, which was lowered as far back as the person behind her would tolerate. Vaguely, Takumi wondered if he really was acting like a stalker. Was it normal to be fascinated by someone sleeping? Maybe he was just jealous because he could not get any sleep himself. He cast furtive, hurried glances around him, and decided that the coast was clear. Even the flight attendants seemed to have abandoned their rounds through the cabin offering bottled water to sleepy passengers. Nobody would notice if his eyes returned to the girl beside him. The way her shoulders rose and fell with each even breath was oddly soothing. He sat back in his seat, admiring the long, dark ponytail which trailed behind her. Lack of sleep was fogging his brain, certainly, because he found himself reaching forward and running his fingers through the pieces of hair. Most girls he knew had fried their hair in vain attempts to add texture, but Akira's kept hers naturally straight and sleek. She really was oblivious to how beautiful she was, and Takumi respected that, but at the same time he wanted to make her realize that hiding was unnecessary now. If he could do something small to help her…

Taking care not to pull the strands, he remembered a trick that Onee-chan had taught him when they were younger. He delicately untied the write ribbon around her ponytail, separated it into three 

sections, and began to weave them together. Even though Onee-chan always kept her hair short, she would practice fixing her dolls' hair in all kinds of fancy plaits while Takumi watched intently. Once she even tried to braid his hair, but she pulled too hard and made him cry. Despite his traumatic experience, however, he did learn how to do a simple braid. The style was practical but cute at the same time. It would suit the new Akira perfectly, he reasoned. Besides, he enjoyed the feeling of the strands between his fingers as he worked. The soft, smooth texture of her hair seemed to drain the tension from his body, and he felt much more relaxed than when he started as he secured the braid with the ribbon. He yawned. Akira must sleep like a rock to not notice someone messing with her hair. But she would definitely notice n the morning. Would she like it? Takumi's heart skipped a beat at the thought of her wearing the style every day to class. He would teach her how to do it herself, but once in a while she could let him do it for her.

With a yawn, he looped an arm around her waist and closed his eyes. Right now, he needed sleep. He would have to wait and see what would transpire. It was something he could look forward to once he recovered.

* * *

BONUS!!

**Title: **Become  
**Rating:** PG

At first, the pain is unbearable. Every movement, every breath, every _second_ is excruciating even with a constant drip of morphine flowing through his veins. Sometimes he wonders if the operation was really worth it; he felt so much better before! But then she clasps his hand gently, taking care not to jostle the IV tubes in his wrist. It's frustrating, not being able to hold her during times like this, but somehow she understands his suffering. She knows that little by little, the pain will recede and he would be able to eat by himself, walk, and eventually return to a normal existence. But for now, he must let her live for him because he cannot do it alone. When the pain becomes too much, he longs for the day when he can become everything she has been for him.


	4. Rebellion

**Title:** Rebellion**  
Summary:** This time, it looked like she had really grated the Okuzaki clan leader's cheese.  
**Rating:** PG  
**Note:** I'm already tossing around ideas for a continuation because I left this very open-ended. I wanted to challenge myself and write a piece based on Akira's relationship with her family.

Rebellion

Talking to her father, no matter the occasion, always made Akira nervous. However, the kunoichi had become a bit of a rebel in her teenage years. She disobeyed him for the first time when she used her powers in Takumi's defense, and a second when she revealed her true gender. She had paid dearly for disobeying her father's final order, though. "Win at all costs." She had damaged the clan's honor on top of betraying her father's trust, and she took her punishment as humbly as she could. But somewhere in his cold heart, her father found the kindness to release her from confinement and let her return to school. As much as she feared her father, she did love him, even if he refused to talk to her directly most of the time.

Still, sending an implied "fuck you" to the all-powerful ninja master from time to time was nevertheless quite enjoyable, and this time, it looked like she had really grated the Okuzaki clan leader's cheese. Perhaps the phone connection was bad, and he had simply misheard her. Growing exasperated, she repeated herself. "We're getting married, father. Takumi and I."

"You are the direct heir to the Okuzaki clan, and as such, you have your duty to take over once I die."

Akira bit her lip. Her father's formal voice sounded alien on the other line, but at least she was talking to him directly instead of relaying a message through one of his subordinates. She had prepared herself for his disapproval, though, and she had thoroughly planned her argument.

"I've already failed at my duties, father. I lost the HiME carnival, although you ordered me to win. You knew what would happen if I was the most powerful, which was why you wanted me to hide my gender and not fight until the end. I am not worthy of bearing the family name any longer."

For a little while, her father was silent. He seemed to be digesting what Akira had just said, until finally, he spoke. His words were soft, not intended to actually be heard. "Women stray so easily from the path of order if given a chance for love."

Despite herself, Akira grew angry. "What do you mean by that, father? Love is what gives HiME strength, right? I thought you knew that!"

"Yet you still lost. Why is that?"

Suddenly, the kunoichi began to understand. Her voice was dangerously sharp as she spoke to her father. "You wanted to be the one at stake, then, as my important person. Instead of Takumi."

"What does this clan mean to you? If you had fought for the clan, then you may have won. But instead, you were torn between us and him and that made you weak."

"Then I choose now to stay with Takumi. He does not treat me like a tool." Taking a deep breath, she waited for the impact of her statement to sink in. Her words were harsher than she had anticipated, but they were true, and her father would just have to take it. He could send the entire clan after her, and she wouldn't care.

"Are you that determined, then, to disobey me?"

"Yes," Akira replied, her mind set. She was about to hang up on her father, but his final response made her freeze.

"Your mother was the same way," he said calmly. There was a click, then silence.

The kunoichi stared at the phone in her hand where her father's name blinked before her, signaling the end of the call. He had never once mentioned her mother, and part of her wanted to find out why, but she knew that calling him back and begging him for information would be useless. However, it seemed like he would not try to stop the wedding. With trembling hands, she began to dial Takumi's number.


End file.
